Watt a result in final race!

JUST CHAMPION . . . Dave Watt (second left) receives the RRR Cup trophy from club chairman and last year's winner Bryan Lawton. Beaten finalist Chloe Clegg (far left) is also pictured, along with third-placed Elliot Stone (far right)

DAVE Watt claimed a magnificent victory in the Royton Road Runners Cup as he beat his 5K personal best by 63 seconds in the final.

The RRR Cup is an annual knockout competition, introduced in 2013.

It builds on the club's support for and regular participation at Oldham parkrun, a free weekly 5K which takes place in Alexandra Park every Saturday morning at 9am.

Club members are drawn at random to race against each other on a date of their choice, with the result of each match decided by a handicap based on their previous 5K times.

A total of 77 Royton athletes entered this year's competition, which started back in January and culminated in a thrilling finale last Saturday.

Watt beat Chloe Clegg in the final, despite his opponent producing her own remarkable run.

Having beaten her previous best time by 30 seconds in the semi-final a week earlier, Clegg improved that performance by another 28 seconds in a brave effort to claim the win.

Both finalists improved their best parkrun times by almost two-and-a-half minutes as they progressed through the competition this year.

With James Cashin unable to compete in the third place run-off due to illness, Elliot Stone claimed the bronze medal - but he didn't just treat the run as a 'lap of honour'.

Stone ran 12 seconds quicker than in his semi-final defeat and only nine seconds off his best parkrun time of 2016.